Pilkington, Belgian, or Dicropan??
I have a rigged hot water bluign system. I have heard from people taht Belgian Blue and Dicropan work very well, but produce more of a sating finish. Is there a way to get a polished finish with these. Also is the Pilkington stuff any good? I have seen many of the older longguns with a salt blue finish and they are beautiful, but does this stuff proscue a pretty finish and can this stuff be used to get a polished finish? I have an old Walther PP that could use a new finish and it would be only right to give it the OEM style polished finish.
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I can give you a little help. I have used Belgian Blue many times. It is labor intensive (as, actually, is every process you have mentioned)but it wears extremely well. As for Dicropan, I've had a gallon jug of the stuff since 1993 and never gotten around to trying it out! I guess that's because the Belgian Blue works so well. As for Pilkington, this is good stuff, but more of a humidity rusting process, whereas the other two are hot water processes. Pilkington will do some surprising things, like blue some "impossible" '94 Winchester receivers. But, nowadays, hot salt bluing is the way to go if the material you are bluing will accept it. You will get a satin to matte finish using any of the above except hot salts; and with hot salts you will get a finish exactly equivalent to the amount of effort you put into polish/preparation. With hot salts, a 400 grit surface will get you a 400 grit finish. With Belgian Blue a 400 grit finish will get you about a 220 grit finish. Your post indicates that you are trying to match an original finish, and depending on the gun and manufacturer one process and its result may be more appropriate than another--and for different reasons. Pilkington might closely approximate the original finish of a Broomhandle Mauser. Belgian Blue or Dicropan might give the desired results on an old double barrelled shotgun that has barrels attached with solder, because they won't attack the solder joint during blueing, and the finish will give a less reflective, longer wearing finish for use in the field. Hot salts will allow you to achieve a medium level wearing surface but a higher luster; or let you obtain the finish you want depending on the level of polish you give the piece before bluing. 0 -
Any of the rust-blues impart an amount of etch to the steel as they work. All produce a satin finish.
We use Pilkington's for soft-soldered doubles and on guns produced with original rust-blue parts. Not all pre-WW2 guns were rust blued (before salt-bath blues were in widespread use) - many were 'carbona blued' or blued using a wood charcoal furnace. That's why we offer four different bluing processes in our shop.
Scrappy Doo sleeps with the fishes.0 -
The way you get a highly polished blue finish is to highly polish the steel before you apply the finish. As stated before, a rust blue will slightly etch the surface and dull some of the brightness.
I have used Dicropan with good results using the hot water method. It is not a money making process, since it is labor intensive and time consuming, but it works well for a gun of your own you want to look nice.
SIG pistol armorer/FFL Dealer/Full time Peace Officer, Moderator of General Discussion Board on Gunbroker. Visit www.gunbroker.com the best gun auction site on the Net! Email gpd035@sbcglobal.net0
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